


In It For the Long Haul

by grey2510



Category: Supernatural
Genre: And I'm still bitter they gave us Chuck's ending, Becky was right in 15x04, Dean and Cas deserve a beach vacation, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Established Relationship, Finale What Finale, Former Angel Castiel (Supernatural), M/M, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, References to the Twitter Roadhouse Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29520573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grey2510/pseuds/grey2510
Summary: Seven months after they defeat Chuck, Jack restores the universe, and Dean rescues a now-human Cas from the Empty, Dean and Cas are comfortably together and still hunting when they're not spending time with family in the Bunker. They're on their way back from a case in Vermont when Dean gets a strange phone call from Becky Rosen, prompting Dean and Cas to start reevaluating their future plans.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 44
Kudos: 76
Collections: SPNColdestHits





	In It For the Long Haul

**Author's Note:**

> First and foremost, I just want to say that I love this fandom and am so in awe of what it has accomplished—even though I couldn't participate in the Valentine's Day wedding festivities for various reasons, it was such a joy to see everyone else creating amazing fic and artwork and posts and sharing the love. So although this fic references the fandom event but is a departure from it, I hope it does not come across as condescending or mocking. Yes, I'm bringing back Becky, but I'm bringing back season 15 Becky, the Becky who has grown up and is much more representative of what us fans are actually like. Becky was completely right in 15x04: Chuck's ending is horrible and the fans deserved better, but even if canon doesn't deliver, who cares: it's our story now, and it's Dean and Cas' story now.

Dean knocks his boots against the edge of the floor of the car to get the snow off before climbing into Baby. "I'm getting too old for this shit," he grouses. The car's already on—he'd gotten the engine going while he and Cas cleared off the car and shoveled out around the tires to get some traction, but it's still chilly inside. "Why'd we agree to take a case in Vermont? In _February_?"

Cas shrugs inside his puffy winter coat that Dean'd teased him about, saying he looked like the kid from _A Christmas Story_. He'd tried to get Cas a good Carhartt jacket, but the former angel apparently has opinions on outerwear, which Dean thinks is hilarious coming from a dude who wore three versions of the same doofy trenchcoat for over a decade.

"We could have used the network, seen if someone was in the area already, but _you_ said that we'd take the case," Cas reminds him.

"Yeah, yeah, don't quote me to me." He's about to get the car moving when his phone rings. He frowns at the name on the screen before sliding his thumb across to answer the call. "Becky?"

"Hi, Dean!" She sounds as bubbly as ever, which puts Dean on high alert, even though Sam had said last he talked to her, she'd sounded _normal_. She'd called Sam not long after Jack had restored the universe after Chuck's temper tantrum—apparently Chuck had shown up to her place, been a dick, and snapped her and her family out of existence _months_ before he'd done the same to everyone else. They were all back just fine now and Becky had just been checking in to make sure everyone else was ok, too, especially after seeing one of Chuck's drafts for the ending of his story. (Apparently Dean was supposed to die in a barn after getting stabbed in the back by a piece of rebar during a lame vampire hunt? As if they'd needed any more proof Chuck was a hack.)

"What's up?" he asks, wondering why the hell she'd be calling him.

"So, um, just a question, but if your answer's a no, it might be a longer story, and…"

"Hold on a sec." He looks over to Cas and they exchange a quick, silent conversation before getting out of the car and switching seats. He's got no idea what Becky's going on about but he has a feeling he isn't going to want to try and navigate winding back roads that are still a little slushy even after the plows have gone by while having this conversation. Cas settles behind the wheel and looks so good doing there that Dean forgets for a moment that he's mid-conversation with someone. He clears his throat and ignores the knowing smirk Cas gives him. "Alright, Becky. Undivided attention. What's going on?"

"Oh, just, uh… Did you happen to get married over the weekend? On Sunday?"

Dean's really, _really_ glad he's not driving right now because he's pretty sure Baby'd be wrapped around one of these giant-ass pine trees.

"Say _what_ now?" he manages to get out. Cas glances over with a questioning raised brow. Dean shakes his head. "Uh, I'm pretty sure I didn't unless I was a hell of a lot drunker than I thought."

Which...might actually be a distinct possibility. Rowena'd shown up to the Bunker and apparently she and Eileen get along like a house on fire—which had left Sam hilariously bewildered in the middle, but not willing to question it—and they'd both decided to play bartenders for the evening; Eileen makes a mean margarita and Rowena knows her way around a sidecar. None of them had even realized it was Valentine's Day until the following morning when Dean'd hauled their hungover asses out for a greasy brunch and they'd seen the wilting paper hearts at the diner. They'd then made a trip to the store for discount chocolates because _hell yeah_ was he going to take advantage of schmoopy crap if he got candy out of the deal.

But he's pretty sure he didn't get hitched—they'd been in Kansas, not Vegas—and even if he did, how the hell would _Becky_ know about it?

Speaking of…

"Ok," Becky is saying. "I was just wondering because there was this whole Twitter thing that happened and—"

Dean's brain is still churning and he only understands half of Becky's story. Something about people running Ash and Ellen roleplaying accounts—for half a second, he wonders if Ash's figured out how to hack into Twitter from the great beyond, but then realizes that if he did, he wouldn't be pretending to be some dude named Chad pretending to be himself—and then the rest of the _Supernatural_ fandom had hosted an online wedding for Dean and—

"And then the Ash and Ellen peeps totally tried to backtrack and say that wasn't what it was about, but screw them and—"

"Wait, back up a sec," Dean manages to cut in. Becky shuts up instantly. "Who am I supposed to have gotten married to anyway?"

Cas is expertly and carefully maneuvering Baby down a hill towards the center of town, but even that gets him to take his eyes off the road for a moment. Dean gives him a _hell if I know_ look.

"Um…" Becky sounds unsure of herself and Dean wonders what nightmare is going to pop out of her mouth to haunt his dreams. He _knows_ some of the shit the fans of the books have written about him...and Sam...and god knows who else. "Cas?" she squeaks.

"Oh thank god," Dean breathes out, glancing over to Cas to give him a smile. "Becky, I'm putting you on speaker. Cas is here, too."

"Oh my god, _for real?_ " Becky gushes. "I mean, hi, Cas, I'm Becky and totally not fangirling like a weirdo over here. Just saying hi a normal amount."

"Um. Hello." Cas has never met Becky, but he's heard about her over the years and he seems faintly amused by her excitement. He frowns at the phone and Dean. "Did you say Dean got married?"

"Only online in fandom," she explains, sounding much more like herself again. "It was a whole thing for you and Dean. Sorry if that's awkward, since, you know, you're not married."

Cas and Dean glance at each other and Dean knows this is definitely going to be a conversation later. And not one he thought he'd ever get to have. He's somehow not dreading it as much as he thought he would.

"That sounds nice," Cas allows, though he seems kind of unsure about it all.

"Becky, I don't want this to come across wrong," Dean says, "but, uh, why are you calling about this? I mean, you guys have been doing your fandom thing for years, and I got no problem with that, I really don't, but I don't know if I need an update on what people are twittering about us."

"I think it's called 'tweeting,'" Cas offers.

"Whatever."

"Well," Becky says, "normally I wouldn't because fandom, real life, not a great mix—I get that now, they're two different things—but I've never _seen_ the fandom so united like that. It was like lightning in a bottle. It was a whole day of art and fic and meta and headcanons—"

Dean doesn't know what cannons on your head have to do with anything and he's a little afraid to ask.

"—and after Chuck and everything, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anyone writing the story again. Or if we'd somehow tulpa'd a wedding for you guys." After all the gushing, it's a little disconcerting to hear an undercurrent of fear in her voice. He can't blame her, though: Chuck'd done a number on all of them and he knows better than most how much it can fuck with your head to think you've lost control of your own life.

"Nope, no tulpa, no one running the show but us," Dean confirms as Cas stops the car at a light. Cas smiles softly at Dean's words, his eyes crinkling in the corner, and it hits Dean again, as it has over and over in the months since getting him back from the Empty, that he actually gets to have _this_. It still feels unreal sometimes.

Becky sighs into the phone. "That's a relief."

"No kidding."

"Becky," Cas says as the light turns green and he makes a left onto the main road, heading towards the highway, "if this happened on Sunday and you had concerns, why did you wait until now to ask?"

"Uh…" Dean can _hear_ her blush. "So, Sam added me to the hunter network tracker, not 'cause I want to hunt or I'm stalking you guys, but just, you know, another set of eyes and ears in case something comes up, and by the time I thought about it, I saw you and Cas were in Vermont and if it were true, I didn't want to interrupt anything, so…"

He can't help but bark out a laugh. "What, you thought we were holed up in a bed and breakfast, honeymooning and antiquing?"

"Well, you _could_ have been…"

"It's February. I'm freezing my ass off up here." Dean decides Becky doesn't need to know that they did indeed stay at a bed and breakfast while on this hunt, though they'd skipped the antiquing in favor of icing—no pun intended—a yuki-onna, which are pretty rare outside Japan, but first time for everything.

"Again, _you're_ the one who signed us up for this, Dean," Cas adds. And because he's a dramatic bastard, he gives an exaggerated shiver and turns the heat up another notch.

Dean makes a face at Cas that's just shy of sticking his tongue out. "Look, all I'm saying is, if I ever get hitched, I'm popping a whole bunch of Xanax and risking life and limb on a flying metal tube of death and heading to Hawaii. Toes in the sand and fruity cocktails all the way."

Cas' eyebrows raise. Dean stares out the windshield.

"Me 'n Rod went there for our one year anniversary since we didn't get to do a real honeymoon and it was _ah-mazing_. I can _totally_ recommend—" She cuts herself off and takes a breath. "Sorry. Just, y'know, get excited."

"It's fine." Dean clears his throat and shrugs like he didn't just mention honeymooning in Hawaii like it's no big thing.

"Dean? Cas?" Becky asks after a second.

"Yes?" they answer in unison.

"Just, um, I know the fandom wedding thing was fiction and you guys are running your own lives now, but I just...I just want to say I hope you guys are happy, whatever that looks like for you. You deserve it."

"Thanks, Becky," Dean says and he genuinely means it, but he's looking at Cas. "And yeah, I think we are."

"Take care, guys."

"You too." Dean hangs up and repockets the phone.

The drive is a lot smoother now that they're on the highway heading south. The plows and salt trucks have done their jobs well, and enough people have been driving on the roads by now to clear them off. He's going to have to give Baby some TLC when they get back to Kansas so she doesn't rust out.

"So," Cas says after a quiet minute, "if you were to get married, you'd actually get on a plane to go to Hawaii after."

"I mean," Dean says, shrugging one shoulder casually, though he can't keep the smile out of his voice, " _if_ I were going to get married. Might be tough given that I'm somehow both legally dead and on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Plus I'd have to find someone dumb enough to hop on that bandwagon with me."

"Hmm," Cas agrees, though the corner of his mouth is quirked up. "That would be difficult."

"Ass." Dean half-heartedly pushes his arm. Cas takes his right hand off the wheel to catch Dean's when it returns to the seat between them. Their gloves are bulky, so it's a bit awkward, but he still gives Cas' hand a good squeeze.

Cas huffs a laugh. "I believe _you're_ the one who insinuated I'm the dumb one in this situation."

"Point." Dean rests his right elbow up against the window and runs his hand over his chin as if in thought. He glances down at his other hand, still holding Cas'. "You know…I'd never thought about...you know...marriage. Not in this life."

Cas nods. "It's not something angels tend to contemplate either. At least, not for themselves."

"What Becky said, though…" Dean pauses, and Cas glances over at him, worried.

"It made you uncomfortable," he guesses.

Dean tightens his grip on Cas' hand, in case he had plans to pull away.

"No. I mean, yeah, a little bit. The whole fan thing will never not be weird but…" He shrugs. "Once you see a high school musical about your life, you just kinda get used to it."

"I'm still not sure if I regret that I missed that or am lucky."

Dean snorts. "Yeah. Anyway...I dunno...what Becky said... I mean, this is a shit job, man. I know we don't do it for the paycheck or the awards—"

"I didn't know we were counting hacked credit cards as a paycheck now," Cas cuts in.

"—but," Dean continues, acknowledging Cas's remark with the barest hint of an amused eyeroll, "it's kinda nice to know in a weird way people are rooting for us, even if they don't know we're actually real."

Cas hums his agreement. "And the marriage part?"

It feels like this should be a huge momentous moment, like he should be nervous, but instead, the words come easy to him, like they're just a fact of life, one that's comfortable and worn in, like a favorite pair of jeans.

"Like I said: never really considered it before. But this—what we got—this is it for me. I'm in it for the long haul if you are, whether it's fake-official in some city hall records office or not." He pauses. "Unless that's something you want. I ain't opposed to the idea."

Cas shrugs. "I've been human for approximately seven months. I can't say I've ever had any attachment to human marital ceremonies, though, like you said, I'm not opposed to the idea." He gives Dean that soft half-smile that feels like coming home. "And I'm also in it for the long haul."

"You better be," he teases, "'cause I don't break into the Empty for just anyone, buddy."

"I'm glad I made the list," Cas answers dryly.

"Even cracked the top five."

 _I know you'll stay, that you're in it with me till the end. I know because you gave all this up to save me and the world because you love me. And I'd break into the Empty a thousand times to get you back because I love you, too_ , he doesn't say. He doesn't have to. They'd said it all in that infinite black expanse before Cas had cut out his grace. They've said it every day since, in a thousand different ways.

They fall silent for a while, but it's a comfortable silence. The mile markers whip by and they're just crossing over into New York when Cas speaks up again.

"So would you _only_ go to Hawaii on a honeymoon?"

Dean catches sight of a snow-buried exit sign and grimaces. "You know what? Sipping piña coladas on a beach sounds pretty damn appealing right about now. I say we do it. We go back to the Bunker, pack our shit, and head out. Tell Eileen and Sam we're off hunting duty for a while—we've got a honeymoon to enjoy."

"I thought this _wasn't_ a honeymoon. Sam's going to think we eloped and didn't tell him."

Dean settles back in his seat, pulling his phone back out of his pocket. "Internet says we're married. Close enough. And it ain't my fault Twitter lost Sam's invite in the mail."

"I don't think that's how Twitter works."

"Whatever, I got plane tickets and hotels to book. Toes in the sand, Cas. Toes in the sand."

It might not be traditional, but what about their lives has ever been? They're writing their own story now, and Dean wouldn't have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I just love the idea of Dean deciding the whole wedding thing is weird but whatever he's going to milk it for all it's worth if he gets a beach vacation out of the deal:
> 
> "Sorry, Sammy, can't talk. I'm on my honeymoon."
> 
> "You're not married, Dean!"
> 
> "You tell that to the Internet."
> 
> Written for Coldest Hits:  
> [Here was the prompt and rules for this month!](https://spncoldesthits.tumblr.com/post/639400427233935360/february-2021-prompt-shipping-forecast-posting)
> 
> Given the ship I've chosen and my laziness about doing promos, I don't have have a prayer of winning this month, so comment and kudos away. :)


End file.
